Pilots' Barbara Ups Average To .453 In 8-2 Loss To Cannons

May 19, 1990|By DAVE JOHNSON Staff Writer

HAMPTON — To get an idea of Dan Barbara's hitting philosophy, consider a bat he once owned that had two words written on it. The first was a verb that was one of George Carlin's seven dirty words; the second was "pitchers."

"I'm fed up with pitchers," said Barbara, who went 4-for-5 in the Peninsula Pilots' 8-2 loss to Prince William Friday. "They're making their money taking my job away."

With his four-hit performance, the best game of his professional career, Barbara improved his batting average to .453. Had he enough at bats - he's 22 short of the minimum - he would lead the Carolina League in hitting by 83 points.

After the first couple of weeks of the season, however, such success seemed unlikely. Barbara was a backup catcher to Jim Campanis - which he still is. Manager Jim Nettles experimented with a few designated hitters and Barbara, with infrequent appearances, started 1-for-10.

Against Frederick last month, when Barbara was called on in the ninth inning to pinch hit for the struggling Campanis, he doubled to right.

The next night, Barbara started behind the plate and went 2-for-3. A week later, he went 2-for-3 as a designated hitter against Kinston. A 3-for-5 performance the next night secured him regular work.

"It's always easier to hit any time you get to play more," Nettles said. "He definitely has earned the right to play. How could I take him out of the lineup now? He's earned his chance."

Barbara doesn't have the power - he's hasn't hit a home run in his professional career. But he's a classic line-drive hitter who has the ability to go the opposite way. Three of his four hits Friday night went to right field.

Which is one reason he's batting second in the lineup.

"If Jorge (Robles, the lead-off hitter) gets on base and I can go to right field, he can move to third," said Barbara of a scenario that happened twice against the Cannons. "If we can do that, we can score a lot of runs."

Barbara won't call himself superstitious, but he has a daily routine from which he won't budge. When he wakes up in the morning, he goes to the store for coffee and Ho-Ho's, then to his apartment to read the newspaper. Then he's off to Buckroe Beach for relaxing, regardless of the weather.

"If you want to hit the same way, you do the same thing every day," Barbara said. "It's more than just eating the same thing every day."

"When I came back, he was already hitting well," Dickenson said. "The reason is the work he's done with Jim. All I've tried to do is throw him some balls and not work on the mechanics, just throw him some breaking balls.

"He and Jim work well together. He's rolling now. I just stay off the mechanics. All I do is make my arm available."

Barbara still doesn't get much time behind the plate - Campanis, one of his roommates, still starts. Barbara would like more defensive work, realizing that would increase his chances of moving up, but isn't wishing for Campanis to break his leg.

"We've been good support for each other," Barbara said. "When I'm down, I don't want to say I don't like my other teammates, but I go to Jimmy. His family's been in baseball and he's smart, he says the right things."

Even with Barbara's hot night, the Pilots gave up 11 hits in their first loss in three games. Sherman Obando was 3-for-4 with three RBI and a home run.

NOTES: Tonight's starters: Prince William right-hander Mark Marris vs. either Marcos Garcia (0-1,5.19) or Ron Mullins (0-3,4.09) of Peninsula. ... Pilots' right-hander Scott Lodgek will have his throwing shoulder evaluated and probably will miss his next three turns. Lodgek (1-5, 5.16) has been experiencing pain his past few starts. ... Lash Bailey missed his fourth consecutive game Friday night with a stomach virus.